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CHAI^CELLORSVILLE, VA 

Battle of May 3"* 18 6 S. 

Taken fronv US Topoy. Survey. 



Scale of MQes, 
Lith..ofJLBieiv. Z4 Vesev Street NY 




A STATEMENT 



OP THE CASE OF 



Brigadier-Ge!{eral Joseph W. Revere, 



UNITED STATES VOLUNTEERS, 



TRIED BY COURT-MARTIAL, AND DISMISSED FROM 

THE SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES, 

AUGUST 10th, 1863. 



A MAP, A COPT OP THE EECORD OF THE TKIAL, AND AN APPENDIX. 



■Ok" 



)on i^ ^^ 



NEW YORK: 

PRINTED BY C. A. ALVORD 

1863. 



PEE F A C E 



Justice to tliose friends and fellow-citizens of mine, 
at whose instance I took up arms in this war, and also 
to a military reputation founded upon twenty-five years 
spent in the service of the United States, in her armies 
and in the Navy, in every part of the world, compels 
me to lay before those friends and the j^ublic, the follow- 
ing statement of facts and accompanying documents. 

I have endeavored to confine myself strictly to the 
official action of the Court-Martial which sentenced me 
to dismissal from the Army, and to matters respecting 
that action ; for, in my quality of a soldier, I have 
always judged men by their acts, and not by what 
they say of themselves, or by what their friends or others 
say of them. 

I submit this statement in the belief that the public, 
more fully informed than the Court, will exonerate me 
from the censure cast upon me by its sentence. 



J. W. EEVERE. 



The Willows, Near Morristown, N. J. 
September, 1863. 



STATEMENT 



At a General Court-Martial, ordered by General Hooker, 
commanding the Army of the Potomac, held near Falmouth, 
Virginia, on the 12th day of May, 1863, for the trial of Briga- 
dier-General Joseph W. Kevere, United States Yolunteers, the 
following charges were preferred by General Sickles, com- 
manding the Third Corps : 

First Charge. — Misbehavior before the enemy. 

Specification. — In this, that Brigadier-General J. W. Revere, 
United States Yolunteers, commanding Third Excelsior (Second) 
Brigade, Second Division, Third Corps, while tlie said divi- 
sion was engaged with the enemy at Chancellorsville, Vir- 
ginia, did march his command an unnecessary distance to the 
rear to re-form it, and did then march with his brigade, and 
such fragments of other regiments of the said division as he 
could assemble, to United States Ford, about five miles from 
the scene of action. All this w^ithout orders from his superior 
ofiicers, about eight o'clock on the morning of May 3d, 1863. 

Charge Second. — Neglect of duty, to the prejudice of good 
order and military discipline. 

Specification, — In this, that Brigadier-General J. W. Revere, 
United States Volunteers, commanding Excelsior (Second) 
Brigade, Second Division, Third Corps, did allow public prop- 
erty to the amount of 189 muskets, 178 sets of accoutrements, 
259 bayonets, 28,440 rounds of small-arm ammunition, 1,779 



6 STATEMENT OF 

knapsacks, 836 haversacks, 494 canteens, 2,000 shelter tents, 
and fifty-five pioneer tools, in the service of his command, to be 
abandoned, and to fall into the hands of the enemy. All this 
without orders from his superior officers at Chancellorsville, Vir- 
ginia, on or about May 3d, 1803. 

And the finding of the Court was in these terms : 

Of the Specification to First Charge, guilty, except the words, 
" while said division was engaged with the enemy at Chancel- 
lorsville, Yirginia, did march his command an unnecessary dis- 
tance to the rear to re-form it, "and" ''then" and "to United 
States Ford, about five miles from the scene.of action," substi- 
tuting for the latter clause, " to about three miles from the 
scene of action, towards United States Ford." 

Of the First Charge, not guilty, but guilty of conduct to the 
prejudice of good order and military discipline. 

Of the Specification to Second Charge, not guilty. 

Of Second Charge, not guilty. 

The finding on the First Specification, then, is as follows : 

Guilty, in this, " that Brigadier-General J. W. Revere, Uni- 
ted States Yolunteers, commanding Excelsior (Second) Brigade, 
Second Division, Third Corps, did march with his brigade, and 
such fragments of other regiments of the said division as he 
could assemble, to about three miles from the scene of action, 
towards United States Ford." 

The sentence of the Court was, that General Revere be dis- 
missed from the military service of the United States. 

This sentence was approved by the President on the 10th 
day of August, 1863, and made known to the accused on the 
15th day of August, 1863. 



The Court-Martial held the grave charges of neglect of duty 
and misbehavior before the enemy to be unfounded, and rested 
its sentence upon the far less disgraceful charge of " conduct 



BRIGADIER-GENERAL REVERE. 7 

to tlie prejudice of good order and military discipline." I make 
no comment upon the spirit whicli dictated an accusation fatal, 
if proved, to the honor of a brother soldier, yet unsustained by 
the facts : nor is it necessary to dwell on that large portion of 
the evidence in the case which relates to the second charsre. 
The reader is capable of deciding for himself in what degree 
the facts warrant the finding, and to what extent the finding 
justifies the severity of the sentence. 

1^0 defence was offered by the accused on the trial. At the 
close of the case for the prosecution, my counsel. General D. B. 
Birney, was so entirely satisfied with the evidence, as exoner- 
ating me from all censure, that, after offering the testimony of 
two ofiicers for the defence, in explanation of some details, he 
advised the course of submitting the case to the Court, without 
making any argument, or any fuller explanation of the circum- 
stances and motives governing my action. It was his opinion, 
as well as that of my friends present at the trial, that the case 
for the prosecution had completely broken down ; and I received 
their congratulations upon the result, without a doubt of my 
acquittal. Nor v^^ere any of us prepared for the extraordinary 
course which the Court adopted, in pronouncing me not guilty 
upon both the charges, yet framing another charge, fitting a 
part of one of the original specifications to it, and condemning 
me thus, in fact, unheard upon that particular accusation. 
" Neglect of duty," under the second charge, we were prepared to 
disprove, and did in fact disprove, by the very evidence for the 
prosecution. The more general charge of " conduct prejudicial 
to good order and military discipline" required a different de- 
fence, resting upon motives, upon special information, and rea- 
sons for action, knowm only to the accused; and, if it had been 
fairly presented, it would have been met by such a defence. 
How far the Court was justified by military Jaw in this peculiar 
finding, will be inquired in another part of this paper. 

Some confusion may have been produced in the minds of 
the members of the Court, by the ingenuity with which the 
chief witnesses for the prosecution insinuated the proof of an 



8 STATEMENT OF 

offence not really charged. Their testimony labors to establish 
two facts ; one supporting the charges, and the other wholly 
irrelevant to them. The first is the offence of misconduct 
while commanding the division ; the other, that of misconduct 
in unwarrantably assuming command of it. Kow, while the 
latter, if proved, could have had no effect upon the case as 
charged, it might very easily have fixed upon the minds of the 
Court an impression of insubordination, which must have affect- 
ed their finding. 'No evidence was offered by me to disturb 
this erroneous impression. An attentive reader of the testi- 
mony can hardly escape the conclusion, that the false issue thus 
craftily presented may have had this effect. 



n. 

Some explanation of earlier events and circumstances is 
necessary for a clear understanding of the questions with which 
the Court had to deaL 

First, as to the command of my division. 

The three brigades composing the Second Division of the 
Third Corps, were commanded respectively by Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Mott, in command of the Third Brigade ; Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Revere, in command of the Second ; and Acting Brigadier- 
General Carr, in command of the First. The numbering of 
these brigades has no reference to the relative rank of their 
respective commanders. General Mott and myself were com- 
missioned Brigadier-Generals, his commission bearing date in 
September, 1862, and mine in October, 1862. Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Carr had been appointed to that rank by the President 
in September, 1862, but the Senate had not confirmed his ap- 
pointment. After the adjournment of Congress, and in 
March, 1863, he was reappointed by the President, and it 
was under that appointment only, dated in March, 1863, and 
giving him rank from that time, tliat he was an acting 
Brigadier-General at the battle of Chancellorsville. His origi- 



BRIGADIER-GENERAL REVERE. 9 

nal date liad not then been given him. This appointment was 
afterwards cancelled, and a new one, antedated, given him. (See 
testimony of Sickles.) Some time after the return of the army, 
from the campaign of the early days of May, to the camp near 
Falmouth, he did there receive from the President an appoint- 
ment, dated back to the original one of September, 1862 ; But 
he had not in May, nor has he now, a commission confirmed 
by the Senate. Thus neither by date of commission, nor by 
that of appointment, could he ha^e ranked me. That he ac- 
quiesced, with others, in this view of his position, is clear from 
the fact that at all reviews, marches, &c., of the Second Divi- 
sion, Third Corps, he was placed junior to both myself and 
'General Mott ; nor was either of us ever informed, by General 
Sickles or General Hooker, that any other claim as to rank for 
General Carr was made, either by him or them, until it was 
announced, just after the battle of Chancellors ville, that General 
Carr was in command of our division. 

Next, as to the occurrences which led to the situation at the 
time referred to in the charges. 

The operations in which my brigade took part, during tlie 
few days preceding the battle of May 3d, at Chancellorsville, 
were peculiarly harassing and fatigaing. (See Appendix II.) 
After several days continuous marching and countermarching, 
near Falmouth, on the north bank of the Rappahannock, the 
brigade crossed that river on Friday, the 1st day of May, and 
moved to the front at Chancellorsville, where they were sta- 
tioned as a reserve, to support the troops then hotly engaged, 
and where, that night, they bivouacked under arms. It will be 
recollected, that during that night and the following day the 
enemy were busy in cutting a road through the forest, around 
our left flank and along our front, and in marching by it im- 
mense masses from our left to our right, in preparation for the 
furious attack made from the westward towards Saturday even- 
ing, the 2d of May. The Second Division, after being under 
arms the whole of Saturday, were hurried forward about 5 p. m. 



10 STATEMENT OF 

to check this assault, and to restore the battle, which was fast 
turning into a rout, from the repulse of the Eleventh Corps, 
which had given way on the extreme right. During the night 
between Saturday and Sunday, the brigade, while kept con- 
stantly on the alert from frequent alarms and the driving in 
of f>ickets, managed to throw up a line of log breastworks, ex- 
pecting a renewal of the attack, for which we knew the enemy 
were massing their forces. The last communication I had with 
General Sickles was through General Berry, about two o'clock 
on Saturday afternoon, and the only food my men received was 
at noon of that day — rest they had none. Going towards the rear 
during the night, I discovered that we had no second line there, 
and that our right was uncovered — a distance of half a mile, 
unoccupied by troops, intervening between it and the next 
force, at White House. 

That night we took prisoners a captain and some twenty pri- 
vates of the enemy, from whom we learned that General A. P. 
Hill commanded a large force directly in our front, intending 
to attack and gain possession of the cross-roads at Chancellors- 
ville ; and that Stonewall Jackson had already thrown heavy 
masses of infantry and artillery towards our extreme right, and 
intended to force his way at early morning between our army 
and the river. This most important information was at once 
sent to General Berry, my immediate chief; but whether it was 
forwarded by him to the generals" of corps, or the general-in- 
chief, I do not know. (See Appendix III.) 

At daylight on Sunday, May 3d, the enemy drove in our 
pickets, and opened the battle with a heavy fire of artillery and 
musketry. The brigade fought steadily for several hours, until 
the enemy turned our left flank, and enfiladed the breastwork, 
when they were forced by numbers to retire. 

A few words explanatory of the map prefixed will complete 
this sketch of the position and the circumstances in which, at 
eight o'clock on the morning of Sunday, May 3d, I adopted, 
with deliberate judgment, and from a conviction of duty, the 



BEIGADIEE-GENEEAL EEVERE. ' H 

course which is condemned by this sentence as a military 
crime. 

The country in which the battle of Chancellorsville was 
fought is a plain, overgrown with dense woods, through which 
a road runs southwardly from the United States Ford of the 
Eappahannock, intersected, at the hamlet of Chancellorsville, 
by a plank-road running westwardly from Fredericksburg to 
Orange Court-House. This crossing-place it was essential to 
the safety of Lee's army to hold, and accordingly they had, as 
stated, during Friday and Saturday, cut a road through the 
woods completely around our left flank and along our front, 
and had attacked us from the west with an immense force 
under their best leaders. Pushing this bold movement still 
further north towards the river, they confronted our army with 
a powerful line which stretched in a general direction parallel 
to its front, and to the road leading to United States Ford, 
threatening that vital point in our communications. It is 
clear then that, in a general sense, the " scene of action" became 
the whole extent of this road, from Chancellorsville to the river, 
and that the peril and the chance of conflict was no greater on 
our left than on our right, where the onset of Jackson might at 
any moment be expected. The distance from Chancellorsville 
to the White House is about three-quarters of a mile ; from 
Chancellorsville to the ford is not less than four miles ; and 
from the point to which my shattered brigade withdrew on 
Sunday morning, to the ford, is about three miles and a half. 
In the neighborhood of the White House the forest thins out 
to a small clearing of about ten acres ; and around the brick 
house near the ford is a much larger open space, w^hile between 
these two points the woods are dense. The open space around 
the White House was crowded on the morning of Sunday, after 
the action, with troops moving in both directions, stragglers 
going to the rear, and artillery and infantry arriving constantly 
and debouching into it. It was also occupied by the fresh 
troops of (I think) the Second Corps. Such was the crowd and 
want of space, that I was requested by several staff officers, one 



12 STATEMENT OF 

an A. D. C. of tlie general staff, to remove my troops in order 
to make room. 



III. 



Into this crowded spot, then, the onlj open one within some 
miles, we had been driven in disorder and complete disorgani- 
zation after the engagement of Sunday morning, there being 
no second line of battle in our immediate rear, behind which 
we might rally. I collected' here five or six hundred men of 
the different regiments of the division, who had straggled in 
after the action. The senior officer in command at that point 
being General French, I reported myself to him, and received 
from him the advice to occupy with my men a line of abatis 
(designated on the map as Fig. 1). These, however, I found 
filled with troops, leaving no room for the addition of mine. 
Here, at this time, I heard from his A. D. C. of the death of 
General Berry, my division commander, who was killed at 
about half-past seven o'clock ; and immediately afterwards I 
met Brigadier- General Mott, the next in seniority iij tlie divi- 
sion, going to the rear, severely wounded. I at once conclud- 
ed that I was the commanding officer of the Second Division, 
Third Corps ; and in that capacity I directed all the officers of 
my division who could be found, personally and through my 
staff, to rally and report to me. And as this new position 
devolved upon me both the responsibility of directing the divi- 
sion, and the enlarged discretion which every general officer in 
such circumstances is supposed to possess, I determined npon 
my conrse of action, in view of all the facts which have been 
stated. 

The need of some action was urgent. I believed myself to 
be the division commander. I had had no communication 
with my corps commander since noon of the preceding day, 
nor was any now possible. I^othing could be heard of him or 



BRIGADIERyGENEEAL KEYERE. 13 

of his staff from the numerous stragglers of the Third Corps, 
who were constantly passing us to the rear, through the woods 
flanking the road. I knew only that he had been engaged in 
the same action with ourselves, and supposed that he had 
shared the same disorganizing repulse. To reunite my small 
force to him, through the inextricable crowds passing con- 
fusedly in both directions between us and the front, would 
have been impossible, even had his head-quarters been fixed or 
known. My men were worn with the marches and battles of 
four days, with want of rest and food for the last twenty-four 
hours, and with sharp fighting for the last four, and were 
nearly out of ammunition. Stragglers from all the regiments 
of the corps were passing in increasing numbers, adding con- 
stantly to the force which could only be collected by retiring, 
and could not have been re-formed, if present, where we were. 
Add to this, that with my mind full of the intelligence received 
from the prisoners of the last night, I was convinced that there 
might be use for troops anywhere along the road to the ford ; 
that the front of the battle had indeed been shifted far to the 
right ; and that a large portion of the division, reorganized, 
refreshed, and resupplied, would be of more service there than 
a few hundred men could be, standing faint and idle where we 
were, or vainly striving to cross the torrent flowing past them. 
Or, if not needed at the right, surely the time would not be wast- 
ed which should be devoted to placing them in such force and 
condition that they could be marched back again to join in the 
battle which had ceased in our front, and which would mean- 
time be sustained by fresh troops, if renewed during our 
absence. It was not so renewed, nor were we ever so far from 
the j)oint we had left that it could not have been reached in a 
reasonable time. 

My duty was to collect my division and bring it, ready for 
action, into union with its corps. Had I at that moment re- 
ceived any orders, they would have been the same which the 
corps commander states in his evidence that he gave to other 
general officers — to report with my command- This could only 



14: STATEMENT OF 

be done by overtaking and rallying its debris, as they streamed 
towards the point where alone rest, and food, and ammunition, 
and space to form could be gained, and where, as I at least 
knew, a chance of early action was to be looked for also ; and 
then returning with it towards head-quarters, w^hich w^ould by 
that time be established and accessible. At this moment they 
were not fixed, for Sickles states that only after Berry's death 
was the movement made for this purpose. I therefore, in the 
absence of orders, after reflection, sensible of the responsibility 
involved, but confident that it was the only course for bringing 
my troops speedily into efficient service, determined upon the 
movement for which I am censured by the Court. 

Striking a direct course by compass through the woods, I 
moved a mile and a quarter towards a point on the main road 
about midway to the United States Ford, and then marched a 
short distance down the main road, to a position where the 
stragglers on both sides of it might be intercepted and rallied, 
and where orders from either Hank might reach us with equal 
ease. Arrived at this point, I halted the column, sent out pa- 
trols in all directions, to collect stragglers, and obtained from 
the river, and distributed, food and ammunition. During this 
time I saw several general officers, and at least one major-gen- 
eral, engaged in the same duty of rallying troops, who filled 
the whole space between my position and the river, in a vast 
and confused throng. At this time and place too I saw and 
spoke with Lieutenant- Colon el O. H. Hart, Adjutant-General to 
General Sickles, who with two aides was busy in the same 
work. At noon reports w^ere called for from the different regi- 
ments, and 1,715 officers and men, in the aggregate, were report- 
ed present for duty. Anxious to avoid delay, I gave the men 
but little time to prepare their food, and then led the division 
towards the front again, increasing our force at every rod. 
Hearing while on the march that the Third Brigade was collected 
close to the ford, I sent one of my aides, Lieutenant Belger, to bring 
them up. Being thus joined by over three hundred men more, 
gathered from the different divisions of the Third Corps, I con- 



BRIGADIER-GENERAL REVERE. 15 

tinned the movement to the front. When within half a mile 
of General Sickles's bivouac, on this return march, I received 
orders (the first that were received by me from any one what- 
ever during that day) by an aide from him, directing me to re- 
turn, and shortly after an order to the same effect from Gener- 
al Carr was handed to me. Major Burns testifies that he also 
met on this march an aide from General Sickles, with orders to 
do exactly what we were doing — bring the stragglers to the 
front. 

I reached the front at the head of about 2,000 men of the 
division, at half-past two in the afternoon, by my watch. I re- 
ported here to General Sickles, who relieved me of my com- 
mand. I at once offered to serve as a volunteer in any capaci- 
ty, in the battle that seemed impending. My request was 
refused, and General Sickles demanded an explanation, which 
I gave in writing. (Appendix lY.) 

It is here that I positively deny having ever sent an aide, or 
orderly, or any other messenger to General Carr, wdth orders 
to him to report to me at or near the United States Ford, as 
that officer has stated in his testimony on the trial. 

To sum up all in a few words, — after the fight was ended, left 
without orders, and crowded off the field, I led away a hand- 
ful of worn and disorganized men towards a point where, in 
my belief, an action might even then be going on, and brought 
them back within six hours, after retiring less than three miles, 
two thousand strong, refreshed and resupplied. Was this a 
breach of duty ? 



IV. 

If the reader will now compare the original charges with the 
evidence on the record, and will also compare the finding of 
the Court with the facts as above stated, he may see reason to 
conclude that as the charges were not supported by the case 



16 STATEMENT OF 

made for the prosecution, so the finding would not have been 
justified if the matters just narrated had been offered by way 
of defence, fortified, as they could have been, by ample proof. 
For what is the substance of the finding ? Let it be borne in 
mind that, by the law of courts-martial, " a prisoner must be 
acquitted or convicted of every part of each of the several 
specifications and charges of which he stands accused."* The 
Court then acquits me of those parts of the original specifica- 
tion to the first charge which in the finding are " excepted" 
from the conclusion of "guilty" — acquits me of "marching 
my command while engaged with the enemy" — acquits me of 
" marching an unnecessary distance to the rear." What is left in 
the finding thus emasculated? The simple fact that I "marched 
with the Second Brigade, and such fragments of other regiments 
of the division as could be assembled, to about three miles 
from the scene of action, towards the United States Ford" — a 
fact in itself indifferent, implying no criminality nor neglect, 
and deriving its character only from the attendant circum- 
stances and motives. I have shown from these circumstances 
and motives that the intention was right, and the act ad- 
visable. Something was required, beyond the facts so found, 
to give my conduct the character of a military offence. I be- 
lieve that incriminating element is to be found in the false im- 
pression on the minds of the Court, not derived from the 
charges, but artfully suggested by the principal witnesses, un- 
contradicted by me, and leaving its traces in the finding — the 
impression that I wrongfully assumed the command of the di- 
vision. That would indeed warrant the finding of " conduct 
to the prejudice of discipline and good order." The reader 
can decide what the Court had no opportunity of doing, how 
innocent I am of this ofience. 

But the peculiar finding of the Court suggests a far graver 
question, as to the regularity and lawfulness of their mode of 
proceeding. The objection I here make is not one of teclmi- 

*Benet on Courts-Martial, pp. 126, 129. De Hart, p. 112. 



BRIGADIER-GENERAL REVERE. IT 

calitj, but one which, if well founded, vitiates and renders 
illegal the whole finding and sentence. It rests upon princi- 
ples of military law", arising in former cases, and settled by 
decisions recorded in the War Department. 

By the rules and practice of courts-martial, military charges 
must be brought under some one or other of the Articles of 
War. When the specified facts and circumstances clearly 
point to a particular Article, the prosecution must be had 
under that Article, and the charge expressed in the terms used 
therein.^ Besides the various particular Articles of War, 
which assign a penalty for definite and specified ofi*ences, there 
is an Article known as the General Article Q^o. 99), which 
provides for the trial of all crimes not capital, and all disorders 
and neglects to the prejudice of good order and military disci- 
pline ; and any ofience not specifically provided for must be 
charged under this General Article. Accordingly, in my 
case, the first charge, that of misbehavior before the enemy 
was specifically brought under Article 52, which provides for 
that ofience ; and the second charge, that of neglect of duty, 
an offence not provided for in any specific article, was brought 
under the General Article (99). The Court acquitted me on 
both charges ; but then proceeded to frame a new charge, to 
connect with it a part of the specification to the first charge, 
under Article 52, and to pronounce a finding of "guilty," 
under Article 99. This it was beyond their lawful power to do. 
A court-martial, after the prisoner is arraigned, cannot alter or 
amend the original charges, nor entertain additional ones.f It 
must be remembered that charge and specification number two 
were both dismissed ; they were disposed of, and were no longer 
in the case, and the only question was as to what the finding 
should be on the first specification. The law, as settled by the 
highest authority, the War Department, in the cases to which 
I have referred, holds that where a charge is laid under a spe- 
cific Article, the accused must be found guilty of a violation of 

* Benet, p. 53. De Hart, p. 298. f Benet, p. 91. De Hart, 102. 

2 



18 STATEMENT OF 

that article, or be acquitted. The court cannot find him guilty 
of the specification as an ofience under the 99th Article.* " It 
is necessary that the ofience against the 99th Article should be 
duly and regularly charged, in order that the accused may 
have notice of that which he is to answer. A charge of one of ' 
the specific ofi'ences defined in other articles is not notice of a 
general charge of some disorder or neglect within the 99th 
Article, "f In another case, where th^ charge was made under 
Article 83, the decision says : " The court have acquitted the 
accused of the legal charge against him. At the same time 
they give judgment against him under the 99th Article of War. 
He was not charged with any offence under that Article. If 
charges are so drawn as to bring them expressly and exclusively 
under particular Articles of "War, a court-martial cannot con- 
vict under other Articles. The sentence of the court-martial in 
this case is therefore void.":]: 

Again, in a case still nearer to the present, it is said : ''The 
court find the prisoner guilty of the spocifioation to the first 
charge, and not guilty of the first charge, and not guilty of the 
second charge and its specification, and do sentence him, &q. 
The proceedings of the court in this case are disapproved ; the 
court, although finding a part of the facts alleged against the 
prisoner, having acquitted him of both the charges preferred, 
proceeded irregularly in passing sentence upon him."§ 

Nor can it be said that the Court here proceeded, in the exer- 
cise of that discretion which military law allows it, to substitute 
in the finding 'a less degree of the offence charged. That 
discretion is limited to the choice between offences of a kindred 
nature. But cowardice, which is the essence of the charge of 
misbehavior before the enemy, is a crime that stands singlq^^'''^ 
and admits no shades of shame. There is no other offence of 
which it is an aggravated form. Between' it and conduct to 
the prejudice of good order and discipline the diff'erence is one 

* Benet, 130. 

f General Orders, "War Department, No. 1, June 18, 1856. 

I General Orders, War Department, No. 8, July 23, 1856. 

§ General Orders, Head-Quarters of the Army, No. 69, Dec. 30, 1843. 



BRIGADIEK-GENEEAL KEVERE. 19 

of kind, and not of degree ; and it is not lawful for a court to 
adopt a difference of that nature as a basis on which to con- 
struct its finding.* 

On this high authority I impeach the finding, and protest 
against the sentence of the Court-Martial in my case, as illegal, 
and exceeding the power of the tribunal. 



V. 

I have turned with reluctance from the merits of the case to 
a discussion of its form, and now proceed, with still greater 
unwillingness, to speak of some personal considerations. It is a 
painful necessity which comjDels an ofiicer, thus dragged into 
public view for branding, to risk the blame of egotism by 
doing violence to his natural feelings of reserve. But the jus- 
tice to myself and otliers, which prompts this statement, 
demands that it should be complete. 

Having received, from my own and other countries, testimo- 
nials, to me priceless, of my behavior as a soldier, I can smile 
at the flagrant vindictiveness of a charge which imputes to me 
cowardice on the field. But to the public, usually only half in- 
formed through the newspapers, the opinion of those lately my 
companions in arms may be of value. (Appendix Y.) The 
Court threw this charge aside, as it deserved, adopting, in- 
stead, the different and milder one of breach of discipline. 

If it is difficult to make the finding of the Court consistent 
with law and evidence, it is still more difficult to reconcile either 
with the extreme harshness of the sentence. I am too old a 
soldier not to be aware that stern examples are needed in all 
armies, and that a general officer must sometimes suffer for 
errors of judgment in discharging the responsibilities which 
duty casts upon him. But some proportion should be observed 
between the offence and the penalty ; and, in all armies, length 

* Benet, p. 132. 



20 STATEMENT OF 

of service, wounds, and imprisonment, may be pleaded in 
mitigation of punishment ; and personal character may be 
made the ground of an appeal to the lenity of a court. 
• The greater part of my life has been devoted, in the profession 
of arms, to the service of my country, following naturally the 
traditions of a family which gave one not undistinguished 
name to the Kevolutionary War, and which has offered two 
other of its members to death for the State, in this one. I 
have been for thirty years a sailor and a soldier. Had I been 
a politician in epaulettes, plying in the camp the arts of the 
caucus, and eking out by chicane defects in soldiership ; or had 
I been lifted from some low employment to a rank won only 
by servility, and held only by pliancy, there might be retribu- 
tive, though indirect, justice in this sentence. But I have 
been more versed in war than in intrigue. On all that Court, 
eminent as most of its members were, there was not one who 
was not my junior in length of employment in the United 
States service. I am censured for conduct to the prejudice of 
discipline, after having served for twenty years, under the iron 
discipline of the old navy, without a reproach on that score — 
after having held in Mexico, in 1851, the rank of lieutenant- 
colonel, and instructor of artillery, conferred in view of my 
fitness as a disciplinarian — after being appointed a brigadier- 
sreneral of volunteers, on the recommendation of General 
Hooker himself, founded expressly on my known experience 
in discipline, and justified, before and since, by the severe and 
exact enforcement of that military virtue, for which I am well 
known in our present army, and which has borne its fruits in 
the brilliant reputation of the 7th E'ew Jersey Volunteers, trained 
and originally commanded by me* — after having served in 
the battles of the Peninsula, during the campaign of Pope, and 
at Fredericksburg, with wounds, but without a blemish upon 
my military character, in that or any other respect. Surely, 
the testimony of such a record to the improbability of the 

* This regiment, at the battle of Chancellorsville, captured five regimental colors 
and 360 prisoners, a larger number than the force they took into the action. 



BEIGADIEE-GENERAL EEVEEE. 21 

offence, should have outweighed all but the most direct and 
absolute proof that it was committed. At least, with such a 
record, I had a right to expect from the Court, even with my 
defence unheard, greater lenity than is show^n in this cruel 
sentence — and from the President, even though his attention 
scarcely rested upon my case, some indulgence for one who has 
given the prime of his life, without military reproach hitherto, 
to the service of the State. Upon that record, and this State- 
ment, asking only an impartial hearing, I invoke the judgment 
of that public opinion to which all are amenable, and which 
seldom fails, in the end, to do justice. 



APPENDIX I. 

Proceedmg§ of a General Court-Martial. 

Major-General W. S. Hancock, U. S. Y., President. 
Lieutenant-Colonel E. R. Platt, Judge Advocate. 
Brigadier-General Jos. W. E.evere, U. S. Y., Prisoner tried. 

Official copy for Brigadier-General Joseph "W, Revere, U. S. Vols. 

A. A. HoSMER, Captain 14tli Mass. Vols., 

Assistant to Judge Advocate General 



Proceedings of a General Court-Martial which convened at Head- 
Qiiarters Third Corps, by virtue of the following orders, viz : 

Head-Quarters Army of the Potomac, 
Camp near Falmouth, Va., May I2th, 1863. 

Special Orders, No. 128. 

5. A General Court-Martial is hereby appointed to meet at the 
Head-Quarters Second Brigade, Second Division, Third Corps, at 10 
o'clock A. M. on Wednesday, the 13th day of May, 1863, or as soon 
thereafter as practicable, for the trial of Brigadier-General Jos. W. 
Revere, Volunteer service ; and such other prisoners as may be 
brought before it. 

Detail for the Court. 

1. Major-General W. S. Hancock, Volunteer Service. 

2. " " John Newton, " " 

3. Brig'r.-General Jas. S. Wadsworth, " '' 

4. " " W. T. H. Brooks, " " 

5. " '* A. A. Humphreys, " " 

6. " " John Gibbon, " " 

7. " " Fras. C. Barlow, " 

8. " " R. B. Ayres, " " 

9. " " S. K. ZooK, " " 

Lieutenant-Colonel E. R. Platt, Capt. 2d Artillery, 

Judge Advocate. 



24 APPENDIX. 

No other officers than those named can be assembled without mani- 
est injury to the service. The Court will sit without regard to hours. 
The Chief Quartermaster of the Third Corps will provide necessary 
accommodations for the assembling of the Court. 

By command of Major-General Hooker. 
(Signed) S. Williams, Asst. Adjutant- General. 



Head-Quarters Army of the Potomac, 
Camp near Falmouth, Va., May 12th, 1863. 



Special Orders, No. 128. 



E 



XTRACT. 



8. The General Court-Martial appointed by paragraph 5, Special 
Orders of this date, will meet at the Head-Quarters of the Third Corps, 
instead of at the Head -Quarters Second Brigade, Second Division, as 
therein directed. 

* * * ¥r * * . r 

^ By command of Major-General Hooker, 

(Signed) S. Williams, Asst. Adjutant- General. 

Head- Quarters Third Corps, 
10.30 A. M., May I3th, 1863. 

Court met pursuant to the foregoing orders. 

Present. 

1. Major-General W. S. Hancock, Volunteer Service. 

2. *' " John Newton, " " 

3. Brig'r.-General Jas. S. Wadsworth, " " 

4. " " W. T. H. Brooks, " 

5. " " A. A. Humphreys, " " 

6. " " John Gibbon, " " 

7. " '^ Fras. C. Barlow, " '' 

8. " " K. B. Ayres, 

9. '* " S. K. ZooK, 
Lieutenant-Colonel E. R. Platt, Judge Advocate^ also present. 

Brigadier-General Jos. W. Reveke, TJ. S. Volunteers, the accused, was 
called into Court, and having heard the order assembling the Court 
read, was asked if he objected to any member mentioned therein — to 
which he replied in the negative. The Court was then duly sworn, in the 
presence of the accused, by the Judge Advocate, and the Judge Advo- 
cate was duly sworn, in the presence of the accused, by the presiding 
officer. 

Brigadier-General Jos. W. Revere, U. S. Volunteers, was then 
arraigned on the following Charges and Specijications : 



APPENDIX. 25 

Charge 1st. — Misbeliavior before the enemy. 

Specification. — In this, that Brigadier-General J. AV. Revere, U. S . 
Vohmteers, commanding Excelsior (Second) Brigade, Second Division, 
Third Corps, while said division was engaged with the enemy at 
Chancellors ville, Virginia, did march his command an unnecessary dis- 
tance to the rear to reform it, and did then march with his brigade, and 
such frao-ments of other reo-iments of the said division as he could 
assemble, to United States Ford, about five miles from the scene of 
action. 

All this without orders from his superior officers, about 8 o'clock on 
the morning of May 3d, 1863. 

Charge 2d. — Neglect of duty, to the prejudice of good order and 
military discipline. 

Specification. — In this, that Brigadier-General J. W. Revere, U. S. 
Volunteers, commanding Excelsior (Second) Brigade, Second Division, 
Third Corps, did allow public property to the amount of 189 rai^kets, 
178 sets of accoutrements, 259 bayonets, 28,440 rounds of small-arm am- 
munition, 1,779 knapsacks, 836 haversacks, 494 canteens, 2,000 shelter- 
tents, and fifty-five pioneer tools, in the service of his command, to be 
abandoned, and to fall into the hands of the enemy. 

All this without orders from his superior officers at Chanccllorsville, 
Virginia, on or about May 3d, 1863. 

(Signed) H. Edward Tremain, Major and A. D. C. 

Before pleading to the charges, the accused asked permission to in- 
troduce Brigadier-General Birney, U. S. Volunteers, as his counsel, 
which was acceded to by the Court. 

The accused then asked permission to introduce Captain Chester, 
Fifth Excelsior Regiment, to assist in recording testimony. This was 
also acceded to by the Court. 

General Birney and Captain Chester then took their seats in the 
court-room. The accused then pleaded as follows : 

To the Specification of 1st Charge. Not Guilty. 

To 1st Charge. Not Guilty. 

To the Specification of 2d Charge. Not Guilty. 

To 2d Charge. Not Guilty. 

Major-General Daniel E. Sickles, commanding Third Corps, a wit- 
ness for the prosecution, duly sworn in the presence of the accused, testi- 
fied as follows : 

I commanded the Third Army Corps on May 3d; General Revere com- 
manded the Second Brigade, Second Division of that corps. The orders 



4r 



26 APPENDIX. 

that the Second Division had, which were communicated in person to 
General Berry, were to occupy the rifle-pits and intrenchments to the 
right and left of the plank-road between Chancellorsville and General 
Slocum's head-quarters on Friday. General Birney's division was to the 
left of General Berry, and in front of the house which I mentioned as 
General Slocum's head-quarters. When we retired from that position, I 
took a second position in rear of Chancellorsville, where I established my 
head-quarters, formed on the road leading to United States Ford, and 
where, through staff officers, I directed commanding officers of brigades 
and divisions to report to me with their commands. General Berry 
was killed before this last movement. The command of the Second 
Division devolved upon Brigadier-General Carr, to whom I commu- 
nicated my orders. General Carr informed me, through a staff officer, 
that General Revere claimed the command of the division as senior ; I 
did not recognise the claim of General Revere. Observing that the 
Second Brigade of that division (Revere's), an<l a portion of the Third 
BripPde (Mott's), did not report, I sent to General Carr for an explana- 
tion, and he reported that General Revere had taken his brigade, 
and he supposed a portion of the Third Brigade, to the rear. I di- 
rected him to investigate the matter at once, and direct General Revere 
to report with his command at the front. I sent some of my staff offi- 
cers to find General Revere, with the same instructions. In the mean 
time, I supplied my troops with ammunition, and remained in that po- 
sition an hour, or an hour and a half, until we moved to the third 
position, where we intrenched. General Revere not yet reporting, I 
sent staff officers to find him, and conduct his column to the position I 
was occupying. It was reported to me that they found him in the 
vicinity of United States Ford. One of my staff officers conducted him, 
and he got up with his column in the afternoon. I directed him to re- 
port to me in person for explanation, and he stated that he went down 
for ammunition. I told him his explanation was not satisfactory, and 
relieved him from command. 

Ques. hy Judge Advocate. — Did you give the accused any orders to 
march his brigade from the field ? 

Ans. — None. 

Ques, hy J. A. — Should orders to that or any other effect to him 
have come from you ? 

Ans. — Yes ; and certainly with General Revere's views of his rank 
and command. 

Accused wished to ask no questions of this witness. 

Ques. hy Court. — Was the division in question under fire, or en- 
gaged with the enemy, during the time the command of General Re- 
vere was leaving the field, as laid in the Specification ? 



APrENDIX. 



27 



Objected to by a member, and tlie Court was closed for deliberation. 
After discussion, it was decided to allow the question to be put. The 
Court was opened, and the decision announced, when the question 
was withdrawn by the Court. 

Ques. hy the Court.— Who is the senior. General Carr or General 
Revere ? 

Ans. — General Carr. In justice to General Revere I ought to state : 
I think that he might have been under the impression that he was 
senior, because, although General Carr was originally his senior. General 
Revere's appointment was confirmed by the Senate, and General Carr's 
appointment was not acted on. General Carr was subsequently reap- 
pointed, and the letter of reappointment bore date in March, '63. It 
was afterwards cancelled, and he was appointed from his original date, 
which re-established the relative rank, making Carr the senior. It was 
perhaps known to General Revere that General Carr's reappointment 
bore date in March, and not perhaps known to him that Gene|j|[ Carr's 
original date had been given to him. 

Colonel I. E. Farnum, First Excelsior Regiment, a witness for the 
prosecution, duly sworn, testified as follows: 

On the 3d of May I belonged to the Second Brigade, Second Divis- 
ion, Third Corps. I was commanding the First Excelsior Regiment, — 
General Joseph Revere commanding the brigade. On Sunday we 
were in line of battle to the right of the plank-road,— at an early 
hour in the morning we were attacked on our whole line. After firing 
for some considerable time, the enemy turned our left, and came upon 
the regiment that I commanded in such force that we were obliged to 
give way in common with the rest of the brigade. My regiment gave 
way with as much regularity as the dense wood would permit, and 
came into the open field near the White House. I there reformed 
what was left of my regiment. I then received an order, from an aide- 
de-camp on General Revere's staff, to move my regiment and form^ it 
on the right of the Fourth Excelsior, which was close by ; — pending 
the execution of the order, I received another order to march with the 
balance of the brigade. We marched to the left of the United States 
Ford road, over to the breastworks that had been thrown up opposite 
there, facing Fredericksburg. The breastworks were filled with troops. 
There General Revere assumed command of the division, or of the 
regimental fragments of the division that were there. And marching 
by his orders, we struck a bee-line through the woods, striking the 
United States Ford road at a distance of about a mile and a quarter, I 
should suppose, from the White House. We were there ordered to 
form column of division at half distance at the side of the road, and 
were halted. In a very short time after we were in column of divis- 



28 APPENDIX. 

ion, we were marclied by a flank down tlie United States Ford road, 
to within a mile and a quarter from the brick house near the ford. 
We marched about two miles and a half from the White House. We 
were then halted, and the men were allowed to rest. Ammunition was 
sent for to supply the deficiencies of the troops, and distributed. The 
movements took place by order of General Revere. At the time I got 
the first order, I had just formed on the road and was collecting my 
regiment together. The enemy followed us up to the skirt of the 
woods, which left us a considerable piece of ground for us to pass over 
before I had reformed my regiment. 

Ques. hy J. A. — How far to the rear was the position where General 
Revere first reformed his brigade ? 

Ans. — About six or eight hundred yards. 

Ques. hy J. A. — When your regiment was marched away as you 
have described, by General Revere's orders, did you leave any pubhc 
property behind ? 

ATm—SRo. did not leave property there,— the property had been 
left the day previous, and we had not recovered it — it was left within 
five hundred yards of the brick house at Chancellorsville. 

Ques. hy J. A. — How far to the rear did you proceed when you were 
finally halted ? 

Ans. — About two and a half miles from the scene of action. I 
am a bad judge of distance. I base my calculation upon my idea that 
Chancellorsville was three and a half to four miles by the road from the 
ford. 

Ques. hy /. A. — Can you specify what amount of property was left 
behind by your regiment ? 

Ans. — The knapsacks of all the men, and the principal part of the 
arms and accoutrements of the pioneer corps. 

Ques. hy J. A. — Could the brigade have been reformed sooner, or 
nearer to the scene of action than it was ? 

Ans. — There was room enough to have formed it almost anywhere. 
The brigade, according to my judgment, could not have been formed 
sooner than it was. 

Ques. hy accused. — State the hour, accurately as possible, on May 3d, 
that the Second Division ceased to engage the enemy and retired from 
the front line or position held by it in the morning ? 

Ans. — About half-past 8 a. m., as near as I can judge. 

Ques. hy accused, — Was or was not the distance marched by your 
brigade to the rear to reform, rendered necessary on account of the front 
being filled with troops waiting to go into action ? 

Ans. — It could not have been formed sooner, or in a more advanta- 
geous ground. 



APPENDIX. 29 

Ques. by accused. — State the number of troops, with as miicli accu- 
racy as possible, that were under General Revere's command when he 
commenced the march to the rear, and were they in fit condition to 
engage the enemy? 

Ans. — About 1,200 men; I should say they were not in a fit con- 
dition to engage the enemy, having expended their ammunition to a 
considerable extent. 

Ques. hy accused. — Were the knapsacks, shelter-tents, haversacks and 
pioneer tools of the entire division thrown off and abandoned on Satur- 
day evening when the division went to the front under Major-General 
Berry, and has the loss of those articles been general throughout the 
division ? 

Ans. — I can only speak as to our own brigade. The whole brigade 
deposited their knapsacks on the afternoon of Saturday the 2d, General 
Berry was then in command of the division, and they were never 
resumed. 

General Joseph B. Carr, a witness for the prosecution, duly sworn in 
the presence of the accused, testified as follows : 

I belonged to the First Brigade, Second Division, Third Corps, on the 
3d of May, 1863. The division was under command of General Berry, 
who was wounded and died about 7.26 a. m. of that day. I was then 
notified by the chief of staff" that I was in command of the division. 
I took command of that portion of the division that was in my front, 
comprising the First and Third Brigades and part of the Second. After 
I took command of the division I saw nothing of the Second Brigade 
until they reported to me that afternoon about 4 o'clock in the rear of 
the White House. Colonel Farnum reported to me in command of the 
brigade. General Revere sent an aide or an orderly to me about 11 
A. M., and ordered me to report to him near the United States Ford, so 
the aide said ; I do not remember the name of the aide. I told my 
assistant adjutant-general to inform the aide that I was in command 
of the division, and sent word by the aide to General Revere to report 
to me with his command at the front at about 2 p. m. I sent a written 
order to General Revere to report with his command. 

Ques. hy accused. — At what hour on Sunday, May 3d, did the Sec- 
ond Division cease to engage the enemy, and retire from the front ? 

Ans. — About 8.50 a. m., I think, near 9 o'clock. 

At 12.40 Court took a recess for half an hour; at 1.30 p. m. Court 
reassembled ; members aU present ; Judge Advocate and accused also 
present. 

Lieutenant-Colonel C. D.|Westbrook, 120th New York Volunteers, 
a witness for the prosecution, duly sworn in the presence of the ac- 
cused, testified as follows : 



30 APPENDIX. 

I was in command of my regiment on tlie 3d of May ; it belongs to 
the Second Brigade, Second Division, Third Corps. The brigade fell 
back from the front, about, I should judge, 6.30 or 7 A. m. of that day ; 
it fell back about half a mile, then the regiments formed near a battery. 
While our regiment was forming in a line with the battery, I received 
an order to fall back and join the brigade. I do not know by whom 
the order was given to me, but I think it was one of the staff officers 
of General Revere. We moved about a hundred yards to the rear of 
our then position and joined the other regiments of the brigade. I 
then received an order from General Revere to take the lead with my 
regiment and move in the direction of the ford ; we crossed the 
United States Ford road or a road leading to the ford. AVe struck 
through the woods about a mile and a half, I should judge, and struck 
the road leading to the ford. We moved a little way down the road 
about a quarter of a mile ; we halted and were supplied with ammuni- 
tion there. I do not know where the ammunition came from. We 
remained there more than an hour, and then marched back again. 

Qiies. hy J. A. — How far from the scene of action was the point to 
which you finally marched ? 

Ans. — About two miles and a half. 

Ques. by J. A. — How far was the point you reached from the United 
States Ford ? 

Ans. — I can't say exactly ; I should judge it was about a mile. I 
judge so because I saw a house which seemed to me to be a house we 
had passed on our march from the ford. 

Ques. hy J. A. — Did your regiment leave any public property be- 
hind it ? 

Ans. — We left our knapsacks; they were taken off on Friday, I 
think. There was a house to our right, and a little to our front at the 
time we took them off. We did not return to the point where we took 
oflf our knapsacks. 

Ques. hy J. A. — How far did the brigade retire from action before 
it was reformed ? 

Ans. — About half a mile, I should judge. 

Ques. hy J. A. — Was the Second Division engaged with the enemy 
at the time the brigade was retired and reformed? 

A71S. — My regiment was engaged with the enemy and so were the 
regiments on my right and left. I thought so from their firing. We 
were in a thick wood. 

Ques. hy J. A. — Were there any other troops than the Second Brig- 
ade of your division with you when you were marched towards the 
ford as you have described ? 



APPENDIX. 31 

Ans. — I tliiiik the 26th Pennsylvania was with us. That regiment 
belongs to the division but not to the brigade. 

Ques. hi/ accused. — Was or was not your regiment in fit condition to 
engage the enemy when marched to the rear under General Revere ? 
How many men had you at the first roll-call during the halt ? 

Ans. — At the first roll-call we had 220 men, about two-thirds of the 
regiment, when first ordered to fall back from the position, where the 
regiment was reforming, we had about thirty or forty men. At the 
time we were ordered to move toward the ford I judge we had from a 
hundred to a hundred and fifty. The men had some ammunition, but 
they needed rest and food, and the companies were much disorganized ; 
with these qualifications the men were fit to engage the enemy. 

Ques. hy accused. — At the halt made by your regiment did you or 
did you not receive orders from General Revere to collect your strag- 
glers, obtain ammunition, and get. your command in readiness for 
action ? 

Ans. — I did receive such orders. 

Major M. W. Burns, 4th Regiment Excelsior Brigade (Second 
Brigade, Second Division, Third Corps), witness for the prosecution, 
duly sworn in the presence of the accused, testified as follows : 

I was serving with my regiment on Sunday, the Cd of May. General 
Revere was in command of the brigade. On Sunday morning I re- 
ceived orders, I think, by an aide of General Berry to move my regiment 
to the extreme right, on the right of the 26th Pennsylvania. I moved 
my regiment and formed in line of battle. I was in line, I judge, three- 
quarters of an hour before the fighting commenced on my left, and did 
not fall back until the regiment on my left had fallen back. I fell back 
outside the woods at the White House. I then rallied my regiment 
and received orders, I think, from General Revere, to form by division 
in close column. I did so. We marched back through the woods and 
came out on the same road I had advanced on in coming from the 
United States Ford. On striking the road I took my adjutant's horse 
and rode back to the front ; I there met an aide of General Sickles' 
staff, who said he had been sent with an order to the brigade to deploy 
and drive all the stragglers to the front. I went back and rejoined my 
regiment, and supplied them with all the ammunition they required. I 
understood the ammunition was ordered by General Revere, but do not 
know where it was brought from. From the point where we halted I 
could see the brick house near the ford. I know that portions of the 
division were engaged with the enemy at the time the regiment fell 
back. I received no orders to fall back. I do not know that the divi- 
sion was engaged when I fell back; it had been engaged and was 
driven back. 



32 APPENDIX. 

Ques. hy J. A. — Did your regiment leave any public property behind 
it on leaving the field, and if so, where ? 

j[ns. — Before going into the field I left the knapsacks, the arms, 
tools and slings of the pioneers, and a majority of the haversacks, near 
the Chancellor House. I left nothing on the field except what was left 
by wounded men. 

At 2.45 p. M. the Court adjourned, to meet to-morrow at 10 a. m. 



SECOND DAY.-May 14th. 

Court met at 10.15. a. m. 

Present. 

1. Major-General W. S. Hancock, Volunteer Service. 

2. " " John Newton, " " 

3. " " Jas. S. Wadsworth, " - " 

4. " " W. T. H. Brooks, " 

5. " " A. A. Humphreys, " " 

6. " " John Gibbon, " *' 
1. " " Fras. C. Barlow, " " 

8. " " R. B. Ayres, " " 

9. " " S. K. ZooK, " 

Lieutenant-Colonel E. R. Platt, Judge Advocate, also present. 
Accused and counsel also present. Proceedings of yesterday read over 
and approved. Major Robert L. Bodine, 26th Pennsylvania Volun- 
teers, a witness for the prosecution, duly sworn in the presence of the 
accused, testified as follows : 

My regiment belonged to the First Brigade, Second Division, Third 
Corps on the 3d of May. In the morning of that day my regiment was 
engaged in the fight in the front line, on the right of the Excelsior 
Brigade (Second Brigade), except one regiment, Major Burns, which was 
on my right. After the line became broken on our left, about 6 or 7 
o'clock in the morning, we retired to the open ground in rear of the 
batteries, by order of Colonel Tilghman, who was then wounded. He then 
ordered me to take charge of the regiment, which I did, and reformed 
it. I marched it a short distance to where I saw parts of two regiments 
of our brigade. About five minutes had elapsed, when I" was looking 
for General Carr, a gentleman rode up to me, I understood him to be 
General Revere's A. A. G., and told me I was under the command of 
General Revere. He had scarcely left when General Revere himself rode 
up, asked me what regiment it was, told me that General Berry had been 
killed and General Mott wounded, and that he was the senior officer and 



APPENDIX. 33 

had command of the division ; I signified ray willingness to obey his 
orders. He told me to follow him ; that he was going to move the 
division. We marched through the woods almost on a line with the 
road running to the ferry, and struck that road about a mile and a half, 
I think, from the breastworks, where we halted. After a short rest, we 
proceeded on down that road to within sight of the river — about a 
mile or a mile and a half, I do not think it was over a mile much from 
the river. We did not get out to the open ground, and could not see 
the river, but could see the banks of the river. We were not there long, 
and returned to the front that same afternoon. 

Ques, by J. A. — Did you, before returning to the front, see General 
Kevere, after his interview with you which you have described, and if 
so, where? 

Ans. — I saw him at both halts ; I saw him- where we halted on the 
road, and saw him where we halted and turned back. 

Ques, by J. A. — How far to the rear was the extreme point you 
reached in that direction ? 

Ans. — I do not know the exact distance. I suppose it was good 
four miles. I was told it was five miles to the river, and we were 
within a mile or mile and a half of the river. 

Ques. by J. A. — Did your regiment leave any public property 
behind it on leaving the field ? 

Ans. — Yes, sir ; all their knapsacks, all their haversacks, and all their 
overcoats. 

Ques. by J. A. — Was the division in action when your regiment 
fell to the rear, and when G-eneral Revere told you he was in command of 
the division ? 

Ans. — It had just been in action. As far as I could ascertain, it had 
been forced to retire from the woods. When my regiment fell to the 
rear, the division was in action. I think the division was not in 
action when General Revere told me he was in command of the division. 

Ques. by Accused. — When you marched to the rear under General 
Revere's order, how many men were in the ranks of your regiment, and 
were they in fit condition to engage the enemy ? 

Ans. — T had 310 men ; the day previous I had 520 men ; about twenty 
were detailed on other duty, which left me about 500 men. I think I 
could have given them a pretty good fight. The only thing that was 
the matter with them was that they were very hungry. They had 
eaten nothing since noon the day before (Saturday). 

Ques. by Accused. — State from whom you received orders to leave 
the knapsacks, haversacks, and other property of your command on 
the field. 

3 



34: APPENDIX. 

^)i,s, — General Carr first issued an order to leave every thing. Gen- 
eral Berry repeated tlie order. That was Saturday afternoon. 

Colonel N. B. McLaughlin, 1st Massachusetts Volunteers, a witness 
for tlie prosecution, duly sworn in the presence of the accused, testified 
as follows : 

My regiraent belonged to the First Brigade, Second Division, Third 
Corps, on the 3d of May. 

Ques. by J. A. — On the morning of that day, did your regiment 
have its knapsacks and shelter-tents with it ? 

Ans. — No. 

Ques. by J. A. — Where was that property ? had it been left by 
order, and whose order ? 

Ans. — It was left the night before. I received the order from 
General Carr. It was left in the woods, perhaps five or six hundred 
yards from where General Hooker had his head-quarters. 

Ques. by J. A. — Were the knapsacks of the whole division left 
at the same place ? 

Ans. — I can only speak for the regiment in front of me. Theirs 
were left. 

Ques. by J. A. — Did your regiment recover its knapsacks, &c., 
which had been so left ? 

Ans. — Part of them did. A part that stayed with me and the 
colors got their knapsacks. There was another part, that went 
with my major, that lost theirs. 

Ques. by J. A. — Do you know where that part that was with the 
major went, and why they failed to recover their property ? 

Ans. — I only know Avhat the major told me himself when I took 
him to account. He reported to me officially. 

Ques. by J. A. — What was his oflScial report ? 

Ans. — That he had attempted to reform a part of the regiment 
that followed him, and that, having done so, General Revere had 
ordered him to follow him ; that he was in command of the division, 
and that he had done so supposing it was correct. 

Ques. by J. A. — Could that portion of the regiment which went 
ofF with the major have reformed where the colors were ? 

Ans. — In explanation of the separation I will have to state that I 
was detached from the brigade, and placed in the front line with my 
regiment — my left resting on the plank-road, my right connecting with 
one of General Revere's regiments. The regiment on the left ot me, 
a Maryland regiment, broke, and let them outflank me. My major 
then ran to me, telling me they were outflanking me. I directed him 
to remain in the rifle-pits we had made, as he was safer there than if 
he tried to leave, if they had outflanked him ; but the left wdng 



> APPENDIX. 35 

foJlowed him, wlien lie ran over to me. I remained with the right 
wing a little longer. I do not know how he got out of the woods, or 
if he could have formed with the rest of the regiment. I know nothing 
to have prevented his forming with the rest. I think, however, if he 
had remained as I told him, he would have been captured, as they had 
already captured a section of guns, which was all that prevented their 
turning my left. 

Ques. by J. A. — If the left wing under command of the major had 
reformed with the rest of the regiment, would that portion of the 
regiment have recovered its property? 

Ans. — Yes, sir. 

Ques. by Accused. — State at what hour, as accurately as possible, 
Berry's division withdrew from the front and ceased to engage the 
enemy, on May 3d, 1863. 

Ans. — I should say that the time we came out of the woods, whether 
they were withdrawn or not I cannot tell, was about half-past seven in 
the morning — from that to eight o'clock. I at least ceased to engage 
the enemy at that time. I saw portions of the division coming out of 
the woods at the same time I did. I attempted to rally, and General 
Carr moved us off the field. 

At this point a member moved to have the Court cleared, which w^as 
accordingly done. After some discussion, the Court was reopened — 
the accused, his counsel, and the witness returned to the court-room. 

Testimony of Colonel McLaughlin continued : 
Ques. by Court. — Did you recover your knapsacks, and imme- 
diately upon your retiring from the first line ; and did you find any 
difiiculty in obtaining them at the place where you left them ? 

Ans. — We did recover them immediately upon retiring from the 
first line, and we had no difficulty whatever in obtaining them. When 
General Carr marched us ofi" we marched immediately to our old camp. 

Ques. by Court. — Did the portion of your command w^hich re- 
covered its knapsacks, retire by the W^hite House, known as the Chan- 
cellor House on the map, or did it return by way of Chancellorsville ? 

Ans. — We retired direct to the White House, without passing by 
Chancellor House. 

Ques. by Court. — How far was it from the White' House to the point 
where the knapsacks of the division were left ? 

Ans. — I should say that it was perhaps 500 or 600 yards. It was 
about half-way between the two houses ; it was on the left of the road in 
the woods. 

Ques. by Court. — How far from the point where General Revere's 
command was first re-formed was it to the point where you formed 
that part of your regiment referred to, which obtained their knapsacks ? 



36 APPENDIX. 

J^ns. — I know notliing about that. I did not see General Revere's 
command. 

Qices. hy Court. — Do you know where the knapsacks of General Re- 
vere's command had been put the evening before ? 

jl'ns, — I do not. His command lay in front of me ; but I don't know 
where his knapsacks were. 

Ques. hy Court. — What kind of fire were your men subjected to when 
they recovered their knapsacks ? 

jins. — They were shelling the plain in front of the woods where the 
knapsacks were ; that was the only fire. 

Ques. by Court. — Did you recover your knapsacks in retiring from 
your position in line, of battle on your way to the White House, or did 
you return from the White House to get them, and about what time did 
you recover them ? 

Ans. — We recovered them on our way to the White House, about 
eight o'clock, or shortly after eight. 

Ques. hy Accused. — How many knapsacks did you recover? 

Ans. — About half my command — probably about 160, or 1Y5 per- 
haps ; all the men with me got their knapsacks. 

Captain George Le Fort, Fourth Excelsior Regiment, Acting Assist- 
ant Inspector-General, Second Brigade, Second Division, Third Corps, 
a witness for the prosecution, duly sworn in the presence of the accused, 
testified as follows : 

I made an inspection of the brigade, I think on the 9th of May, at 
the present camp of the brigade, near Falmouth, Va. I found a certain 
amount of property missing. (Witness refers to memorandum to refresh 
his memory.) The following articles were missing : 

189 muskets, 
259 bayonets, 
178 sets of equipments, 
1,779 knapsacks, 
836 haversacks, 
494 canteens, 
2,002 pieces of shelter-tent, 
41 axes and slings, 
10 spades and slings. 

Ques. hy J. A. — Do you know how this property was lost ? 

Ans. — No, sir. 

Ques. hy Accused. — How do you know that the described property 
was missing? Had you inspected the brigade previous _ to the time 
mentioned, or have you personal knowledge that the described property 
ever had been issued to the command ? 






APPENDIX. 37 

Ans. — I ascertained from the commandants of companies and from 
personal inspection ; I had not inspected the brigade previously to the 
time mentioned. I had no personal knowledge that the property had 
been issued to the command. 

PROSECUTION CLOSED. 

At 12.45 p. M., Court took a recess for half an hour. 

At 1.15 p. M., Court reassembled. All present — accused and counsel 
also present. 

Major John P. Vinkelmeier, Assistant Adjutant-General Second 
Brigade, Second Division, Third Corps, witness f*r defence, duly sworn 
in the presence of the accused, testified as follows : 

Ques. hy Accused. — State your name, rank, and duties on the 3d of 
May, 1863. 

Ans. — John P. Vinkelmeier, Major, and Assistant Adjutant-General 
Second Brigade, Second Division, Third Corps. I held that position on 
the 3d of May. 

Ques. hy Accused. — State, if you know, the movements of Revere's 
brigade, and other troops of which General Revere assumed command 
on the 3d of May, 1863. 

Ans. — We stood under fire until seven a. m., and after the enemy 
ceased to fire we fell back, meeting on the way the troops ordered to 
the front ; we came down to what they call White House, near General 
French's head-quarters. General Revere ordered me and the other staflf 
oflScers to collect the fragments of the scattered regiments. After a 
great deal of effort, I succeeded in collecting about 600 or 800 men. 
General Revere reported with these men to General French, on the 
ground. General French ordered him to occupy the rifle-pits south of 
the plank-road. When marching up to the rifle-pits we found them oc- 
cupied by other troops already. General Revere ordered then the regi- 
mental commanders to him, and informed them that he intended to fall 
back in order to collect the stragglers, our men being very much ^ex- 
hausted, and almost without ammunition. We marched back through 
the woods to the first open place we could reach, where General Revere 
directed me to order details to pick up stragglers, and ordered the am- 
munition train up, — in the mean time affording our men a little rest, 
and preparing them for marching to the front again. The detail was 
made by me, and the train ordered. AVe succeeded in collecting strag- 
glers, and the train arrived about an hour afterwards, or so. Ammuni- 
tion was distributed, when General Revere, anxious to get our troops 
back again, ordered them to fall in, and marched to the front. Our men 
had scarcely time to prepare what little provisions they had for eating. 



6b APPENDIX. 

We came near the head-quarters of General Sickles some time between 
two and three. When about half or three-quarters of a mile distant 
from those head-quarters, we met Captain Chester, bringing an order 
from General Sickles for General Revere to return. 

Ques. hy Accused. — Under whose order, and when, were the troops 
of Revere's brigade stripped of knapsacks, haversacks, &c., for the fight^ 
and was it or was it not possible afterwards to recover them ? 

Ans. — The order was given by a staff officer of General Berry, with 
the intention of preparing our troops for light marching order, Saturday 
evening, before we marched up the plank-road. They were to be left 
in charge of the pioneers and the musicians. In my opinion it was 
impossible afterwards to recover them, the brigade being on the right, 
and the ground being too much occupied and intersected by other 
troops as well as the advancing enemy, as well as on account of the 
heavy cannon firing on the part of the enemy. 

Ques. hy J. A. — Was the order you say you met Captain Chester 
taking to you, the first one received to return to the front ? 

Ans. — It was the first I was aware of. I was with General Revere 
all the time, and would have known if any had been brought. Subse- 
quently an order to the same eff"ect was brought by Lieutenant Banks, 
of General Sickles' staff". 

Ques. hy Court. — How near to the United States Ford did General 
Revere take his command ? 

Ans. — About a mile and a half or two miles from the ford, in my 
opinion. 

Ques. hy Court. — Where was the ammunition train that you speak of 
ordered from ? 

Ans. — I suppose it was from the front. I don't know the location of 
the train ; to judge from the direction the train arrived, I believe it 
came from the front. 

Lieutenant Charles R. Paul, 15th New Jersey Volunteers, and 
aide-de-camp to General Revere, witness for the defence, duly sworn in 
the presence of the accused, testified as follows : 

Ques. — State your name, rank, and your duties on the 3d of May, 
1863. 

Ans. — Charles R. Paul, Second Lieutenant 15th New Jersey, and 
aide-de-camp to General Revere. 

Ques. hy Accused. — Give as fully as possible the movements of 
Revere's brigade, and of the troops over which General Revere assumed 
command on the 3d of May, 1863. 

Ans. — The brigade formed line of battle on the right of the first 
brigade of the division on the afternoon of the 2d of May. On the 
morning of the 3d of May, at daylight, the enemy advanced on our 



APPENDIX. dy 

front ; after some time they turned our left flank. The brigade then 
fell back in the rear of General French's command, where the regiments 
were gathered together and formed in line. We then retired through 
the woods, and struck the road leading to White House at an old de- 
serted rebel camp. The command was halted ; orders sent to the dif- 
ferent regiments to send out details and gather together their stragglers. 
Ammunition was sent for and furnished to the troops. The general 
also sent to the river for provisions for the men. There being some 
delay in obtaining them, he decided not to wait, and marched his com- 
mand to the front. When we were about two-thirds between the rebel 
camp and the White House, we met an aide from General Sickles, with 
orders for General Revere to bring the command to the front. 

Ques. hy Accused. — W^hen General Revere commenced to move his 
command to the rear, had or had not Berry's division ceased to engage 
the enemy ? 

Ans. — It had ceased to engage the enemy. When reformed in rear 
of French's division, we did not engage the enemy after we were re- 
pulsed from the woods. 

Ques. by Accused. — State under whose orders the knapsacks, shelter- 
tents, and other property of Revere's brigade were stripped off, and 
whether the position of the enemy and condition of brigade admitted 
of their repossession. 

Ans. — They were taken off by order of General Berry ; they were 
on the left of our position, and from the direction we came out of the 
woods it was impossible, in my opinion, to regain possession of them. 

Ques. hy J. A. — You say ammunition was sent for. Where was it 
sent for ? 

Ans. — To the ford. 

Ques. by Court. — Who was the aide from General Sickles that met 
you on the road returning ? And do you know whether the order for 
the command to return, delivered by him, was the first orders received 
from General Sickles to that effect ? From what point was the ammu- 
nition received that was issued to the troops ? 

Ans. — Lieutenant Banks was the aide. Captain Chester had a simi- 
lar order. We were resting on the road when he brought it. The 
ammunition was received from the ford. I saw the train come in, and 
was present when it was issued ; it came from the ford. 

Ques. by Court. — Was any order received by General Revere from 
General Carr or any other superior officer, while you were in camp near 
the ford, to return to the front ? 

Ans. — Not to my knowledge. 

Ques. by Court. — Was the ammunition distributed to the brigade that 
belonging to 3'our division, or was it some other ammunition ? 



40 i APPENDIX. 

A71S. — I do not know. 

The accused was asked if he had any more witnesses to call, or any 
other defence to offer, to which he replied in the negative. 

The Court was then cleared, and, after mature deliberation on the 
evidence adduced, found the accused, Brigadier-General Joseph W. 
Revere, as follows : 

Of the Specification First Charge — Guilty, except the words, " while 
said division was engaged with the enemy at Chancellorsville, Virginia, 
did march his command an unnecessary distance to the rear to reform 
it, and" " then" and "to United States Ford, about five miles from the 
scene of action," substituting for the latter clause, " to about three miles 
from the scene of action, towards United States Ford." 

Of the First Charge — JSTot Guilty^ but Guilty of conduct to the 
prejudice of good order and military discipline. 

Of the Specification to Second Charge — Not Guilty. 

Of Second Charge— Not Guilty. 

And the Court does therefore sentence him, Brigadier-General Joseph 
W. Revere, United States Volunteers, to be dismissed from the military 
service of the United States. 

W. S. Hancock, 
Major-General United States Volunteers, 
President of Court. 

E. R. Platt, Lieutenant-Colonel and Judge Advocate. 

Approved : 

Joseph Hooker, Major-General Commanding. 

At 3.30 p. M. the Court adjourned, to meet at 10 a. m. to-morrow. 



THIRD DAY.-May 15th, 1863. 

At 10 A. M. Court met. 

Present. 

1. Major-General W. S. Hancock, Volunteer Service. 

2. " " John Newton, " 

3. Brig. -General Jas. S. Wadsworth, " 

4. " " W. T. H. Brooks, 
6. . " " A. A. Humphreys, " 

6. " " John Gibbons, " 

7. " " R. B. Ayres, '' 

8. " " S. K. ZooK, 
Lieutenant-Colonel E. R. Platt, Judge Advocate, also present. Gen- 
eral Barlow absent. 



APPENDIX. 41 

Proceedings of yesterday read over and approved. 

There being no further business before the Court, it adjourned (sine 

die). 

W. S. Hancock, 
Majo7'- General United States Volunteers, 
President of Court. 
E. R. Platt, Lieutenant- Colonel and Judge Advocate. 

Head-Quarters Army op the Potomac, \ 
May 15th, 1863. ) 

The proceedings in the case of General Revere are approved ; and 
under the Sixty-fifth Article of War, the record in the case is respect- 
fully forwarded for the action of the President of the United States. 

Joseph Hooker, 
Major-Oeneral Commanding. 



APPENDIX No. 11. 

Copy of Brigadier-General Revere's Eeport of Operations. 

Second Division, Third Corps. 
Head-Quarters Excelsior Second Brigade, 
Camp near Falmouth, Va., May 9th, 1863. 

Lieutenant'Colonel O. H. Hart, 

Assistant Adjutant- General Third Army Corps : 

Colonel : — ^I have the honor respectfully to report the operations of 
the brigade during the last few days, as follows : 

On the 28th of April, 1863, in pursuance of orders from Division 
Head-Quarters, at 3.30 p. m. we left our encampment and bivouacked 
for the night near the Rappahannock, below Fredericksburg, near 
Skinker's Bend. The next day we moved about one mile nearer the 
river, and again bivouacked for the night. 

On the 30th April again followed the division column in company 
with the whole Third Corps, to the vicinity of the United States Ford 
of the Rappahannock, and bivouacked. 

The next day. May 1st, 1663, we crossed the river on the pontoon 
bridge, and proceeded about one and a half miles from the ford, where 



42 APPENDIX. 

we were placed in position to the right of the road, with a strono- 
picket-guard of the brigade in our front facing westwardly, but before 
we liad completed the disposition of the troops, were ordered to pro- 
ceed immediatel}^ to the front at Chancellorsville, which we did, reaching 
that place about 5 p. m., and finding our forces hotly engaged with the 
enemy in the advance. We were posted in mass as- a reserve on the left 
of the road, near the brick hotel, and again bivouacked under arms. 

Here we remained until about 5 p. m. Saturday, May 2d, although 
under arms from several alerts which occurred in the course of the day, 
the enemy passing meanwhile in great force from the left to the right 
of our position. At that hour the enemy attacked our right with a 
tremendous assault, and the whole Eleventh Corps, upon which it was 
made, gave way, and we were hurried up to intercept their fugitives 
and repel the enemy. 

We moved forward on the road, this brigade leading, and the 
major-general commanding the division at our head, first brigade in 
our rear, meeting fugitives, ambulances, batteries, caissons, limbers, 
&c., hurrying to the rear, of the troops which had broken. 

I received orders to cover the road on each side, and had already 
deployed the 3d Excelsior to the right, and the 4th Excelsior to 
the left of the road, when other orders were given to the rear regiments, 
and the whole brigade was dispersed in the thick woods and under- 
growth on the right of the plank-road, in a short time, no two regiments 
joining together. 

After considerable efforts on the part of myself and my staff, we 
succeeded in joining the regiments again, and forming a line of battle 
in the dense woods, which extended in a semicircular form from the 
plank-road to a woods road on the right, in the following order, com- 
mencing on the right : 26th Pennsylvania, 3d Excelsior, 1st Excelsior, 
2d Excelsior, 120th New York, 5th Excelsior, 1st Massachussetts (I 
believe), and a Maryland regiment resting on the plank -road to Orange 
Court House. The 4th Excelsior did not join the brigade until the 
next morning, having been placed on the left of the plank-road by 
order of General Berry. 

Before being entirely formed we received orders to charge the enemy 
with the bayonet, but no enemy appeared just then in our front 

Immediately 1 had formed my line I sent out scouts and deployed 
skirmishers in advance, who reported the enemy's pickets in front, and 
heavy masses of infantry in their rear. 

During the night we succeeded in forming a line of long breast- 
works with abatis in front, and had frequent alarms, our pickets 
being several times driven in. 

We also captured a captain and some twenty privates of the enemy, 



APPENDIX. 43 

all of whom agreed in reporting tliat General A. P. Hill M^as in our 
front with a large force, and that the enemy's forces were being massed 
both on our left and to the right, with a view of gaining possession of 
the cross-roads, and of getting between us and our communications 
with the river at the same time. 

I went to the rear during the night, but found no second line there. 
I however discovered a break of half a mile from our right to the next 
force at White House (there being no troops between the two points). 

At early daylight the enemy drove in our pickets, and commenced 
the battle with a terrific fire of artillery and musketry, while his 
sharpshooters were also actively engaged. Our gallant soldiers, how- 
ever, undauntedly returned their fire from behind their low" defences, 
and defiantly answered their savage yells by hearty cheerino', and for 
several hours maintained their position, when the enemy having turned 
our left flank and enfiladed the breastwork, the brio-ade broke off 
gradually, regiment after regiment, from the left, and reluctantly yielded 
their ground to a vastly superior force, who however were well punished 
by our men. 

Owing to the practice of the enemy firing so low, the breastwork was 
a great protection, which will account for the comparatively small num- 
ber of casualties in the brigade. Our brigade, however, lost all their 
knapsacks, blankets, shelters, and rations which were left at the bivouac 
near the cross-roads, and which we were forced to abandon during the 
enemy's assault on our position. 

I here found that I was the senior officer of the division present, 
General Berry having been killed, and General Mott wounded. 

On reaching the main road near the White House, in the rear of the 
retiring troops, I was joined by the Fourth Excelsior, and succeeded 
in collecting together some five or six hundred men from almost every 
regiment of the division, and with them reported to Brigadier-General 
French, who commanded at that point with his division, and asked for 
instructions. He designated to me a line of abatis and breastworks 
facing to the left, as a suitable place to occupy, but on arriving at them 
I found them lined with troops, and to put more there would be super- 
fluous. 

In fact, the whole place was covered with troops ; and as a constant 
stream of stragglers was going to the rear by the main road, I decided 
to intercept them, by striking a straight course by compass through 
the woods from that point towards the ford, where I knew I should 
strike the main road, nearly midway, and be in a position to catch 
those on each side of the road. 

I should also be in a position to go to either flank, as I might be 
directed, where our services would be required the most, and besides. 



44 APPENDIX. 

have the opportunity to renew our exhausted ammunition, rest the 
troops, and recruit our thinned out ranks. On arriving at the point 
aimed at, on the high road, I halted the column, and immediately sent 
out officers from all the regiments present to collect the stragglers from 
the vicinity, and ordered ammunition to be procured and served out 
to the men, which was done. 

At noon I called for reports from the regiments, and found that there 
were present for duty as follows, viz : 

1st Excelsior, 210. 120th New York, 224. 

2d Excelsior, 150. 1st Massachusetts, 80. 

8d Excelsior, 204. 15th Massachusetts, 74. 

4th Excelsior, 282. 26th Pennsylvania, 354. 
5th Excelsior, 137. 

Aggregate, 1,715 officers and men. 

All having been supplied with ammunition, refreshed, rested, and 
fitted again to take the field, I led the division towards the front, in- 
creasing our force at every rod of the road. At this time, having heard 
that the Third Brigade was collected close by the ford, I sent back one 
of my aides. Lieutenant Belger, to bring them up to join that part of 
the division then with me. Lieutenant Belger succeeded in collecting 
upwards of three hundred men of the different divisions of the corps, 
having been directed to do so by Lieutenant Colonel Hart, at United 
States Ford. 

Arrived at the front at the head of about 2,000 men of the division, 
at 2.30 p. M. I reported to Major-General Sickles, commanding Third 
Corps, who relieved me from the command, having previously turned 
over the command of this brigade to Colonel J. Egbert Farnum, 1st 
Excelsior regiment. 

Where all performed their duty nobly and gallantly, both officers 
and soldiers, it would be invidious to particularize ; but I would re- 
spectfully beg leave to mention the officers of my staff. Major John P. 
Vinkelmeier especially, for his valuable services in holding the com- 
mand in hand, and carrying out my orders ; also Captain Young, who 
was wounded, and my aides-de-camp. Lieutenants Crofts, Paul, and 
Belger. 

I regret deeply to say, that the brave Colonel William O. Stevens, 
of the 3d Excelsior, is either killed, or wounded and a prisoner; and 
Lieutenant-Colonel Lounsbury and Major Alles, 5th Excelsior, are 
grievously wounded. 

I would also respectfully call your attention to the regimental reports 
herewith enclosed, for particulars as to the meritorious conduct of the 



APPENDIX. 45 

officers and men therein particularized, and who deserve promotion for 
their well-timed gallantry. 

I subjoin a list of the casualties in the brigade, and remain, Colonel, 
Very respectfully, your most obedient servant, 

J. W. Revere, Brigadier-General. 



A1>PENDIX No. III. 

The imminence of this danger from an attack upon our right at the 
river, and the confidence with which its result was anticipated by the 
rebel commanders, appear from the facts stated in the following extracts. 

[Extract from the Detroit Free Press.^ 

" Captain William D. Wilkins, of the staff of General A. S. Wil- 
liams, commanding a division of the Twelfth Corps, who was wounded 
and taken prisoner in the battle of Chancellorsville, communicates 
some interesting particulars of that battle. 

" He was placed in charge of a guard, who took him a short distance 
to the rear, and to the plank-road, where he met General Jackson and 
his staff. Jackson had at this time formed a column of attack on the 
plank-road, with the design of flanking our army and obtaining pos- 
session of the United States Ford road, which would have undoubtedly 
resulted in the total annihilation of our army. 

"The column consisted of upwards of 15,000 men, massed in 
columns of sections, having three batteries of artillery on the flank. • 

* Hi * * * • * 

" An officer of Jackson's staff subsequently stated that it was about 
fifteen minutes after this that General Jackson and staff advanced to 
the front to reconnoitre our position, having accomplished which he 
returned by a different path towards his own men, who, mistaking his 
approach for that of a party of our cavalry, fired upon him, killing and 
wounding four of his staff, and wounding Jackson." 

[Extract from the New York Times.l 

Head-Quarters Army of thr Potomac, 
May 23, 18G3. 
"Lieutenant Thomas J. Leigh, aide-de-camp to Brigadier-General 
Ward, commanding the Second Brigade of Birney's Division, Third 



46 APPENDIX. 

Corps, was taken prisoner by the enemy on the night of Saturday, 
the 2d instant. 

" He had just returned from Richmond on parole, and gives some 
interesting statements of the rebel dispositions during the battle of 

Sunday, the 2d in-stant. 

******* 

" As soon as taken, Lieutenant Leigh was sent to the rear, under the 
impression that he was a Union surgeon. This was between 12 and 
1 o'clock Sunday morning. The enemy were then massed on the- 
Orange County plank-road, about 30,000 strong, formed in five lines 
of battle, the right of the lines resting on the plank-road, their artil- 
lery in position on the north side of the road, where General Howard's 
head-quarters had been. 

" During the whole of that night the jebel force was being strength- 
ened by fresh arrivals of troops." 

[Extract fr 0771 the Richmond Enquirer — May 13th, 1863.] 

" General Jackson, having gone some distance in front of the line of 
skirmishers on Saturday evening, was returning about 8 o'clock, at- 
tended by his staff and part of his couriers. The cavalcade was in the 
darkness of the night mistaken for a body of the enemy's cavalry, and 
fired upon by a regiment of his own corps. 

* * * * . * * * 

" The operation (of amputation) was performed while he was under 
the influence of chloroform, and was borne well. * * * He sent for 
Mrs. Jackson, asked immediately about the battle, spoke cheerfully of 
the result, and said, ' If I had not been wounded,. or had an hour more 
o? dayligjit, I would have cut off" the enemy from the road to the 
United States Ford, and we should have had them entirely surrounded, 
and they would have been obliged to surrender, or cut their way out. 
They had no other alternative.' " 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX No. IV. 

Head-Quarters Third Army Corps, 
May 34 1863. 
Brigadier-General Revere, 

Commanding Excelsior' Brigade, Second Division : 
General : — General Sickles directs that you report immediately the 
authority under which you moved your brigade to the rear this 
morning, 

I am, genera], yours resj^ectfully, 

J. Hayden, 
Lieutenant- Colonel and Assistant Adjutant- General. 

Answer. 

Head-Quarters Excelsior Brigade, [ 
In the Field, May 3f?, 1863, 2.30 p. m. i 
Lieutenant-Colonel J. Hayden, 

Acting Assistant Adjutant- General, <jbc, : 
Colonel : — I have the honor to state that after my brigade had left 
the field this morning, I found myself the senior officer of the division 
present ; and after rallying and forming the broken command, who were 
almost without ammunition and quite out of rations, I moved them 
down the road for the purpose of reorganizing and bringing them back 
to the field comparatively fresh, after consulting the commanding- 
officers of the regiment present. I did not act under any orders, but 
did as seemed best to me under the circumstances. 

This movement commenced about eight a. m., and I returned at two 
p. M., with parts of nearly every regiment in the division, having re- 
ceived numerous augmentations on the march, and with renewed am- 
munition. I have the honor to be. 

Very respectfully, your obedient serv't, 

J. W. Revere, Brigadier'- General. 



48 APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX No. V. 

Head-Quarters First Eegiment, Excelsior Brigade, 
Camp near Falmouth, Va., May 20th, 1863, 

General : — My attention having been called to certain articles in the 
New York City newspapers, which seem to reflect upon your courage, 
and which distort your actions at a certain point of the brigade's his- 
tory, I beg to respectfully state, that so far as your personal courage 
and soldierly attributes are concerned, I have never heard officer or 
man question them. Of a certainty I know, that when the fire was 
warm, you were beside me calmly, and without any evidence of any 
other sentiment than that which actuated the whole command, awaiting 
some decisive movement. This much I know, as your next ranking 
officer oh the field. As to the movements that were subsequently 
made, when the fighting was over, 1 do not feel called upon to express 
an opinion^ as it has been made the business of a General Court-Mar- 
tial ; but for the careless and inconsiderate slanders that have been 
circulated, affecting you as a brave man, and an honorable soldier, I 
am with you responsible. Very respectfully. 

Your obedient serv't, 

J. Egbert Farnum. 

The undersigned, field and staff" officers of the regiments composing 
the Excelsior Brigade, having been present at the battle of Chancel- 
lorsville, while the brigade was under the command of General Revere, 
cordially indorse the above statement of Colonel J. Egbert Farnum. 

Thomas Raffertv, Major 2d Excelsior Regiment. 
John Leonard, Major 3c? Excelsior Regiment. 
N. Wm. Burns, Major ith Excelsior Regiment. 
C. D. AVestbrook, Lieutenant- Colonel 120th New York Regiment. 
'T. Evelyn Tyler, Ca];)tain Cominanding 5th Excelsior Regiment. 
J. P. Vinkelmeier, Major, and Assistant Adjutant- General Excel- 
sior Brigade. 
J. Elliott Crofts, Lieutenant and A. D. C. 
Charles R. Paul, Lieutenant and A. D. C. 

To Brigadier-General Jos. W. Revere. 



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